Advantages and Disadvantages

When Apple decided to remove the headphone jack, they created alot of controversy. They would argue that the removal of the jack is there to improve the user experience overall.

Of course, many iPhone fans are also being forced to deal with a new hassle and inconvience. Here, we will review the overall advantages and disadvantages of removing the headphone jack.

When reviewing the Advantages and Disadvantages, it is important to remember that Apple must continue to innovate. Their future phones will be more radical. By removing the headphone jack in its design now, Apple may be doing a "pre-emptive strike"...removing the jack to allow for more options in future designs.

Advantage #1 - Sleek Design

Apple is working to make their phone as flat as possible. In the future, the phone will get thinner. Apple may also opt to have a curved phone. By removing the jack, they will be more capable of creating more sleek designs in the future.

For instance, Apple may even produce a phone with absolutely no jacks in it at all. The lightning jack is needed right now for charging. But with wireless headphone technology and wireless charging coming to future versions, future iPhone generations may have no jacks at all.

Disadvantage #1 - Listen + Charge

Apple iPhone 7 users lost the ability to listen on wired headphones while charging their phone at the same time. In order to do this now, you will have to purchase a specialized dongle that has a lightning jack and a headphone jack.

And be sure to read the reviews if you do buy such an adapter. Some of the cheaper adapters will generate a buzzing sound in the headphones while the phone is being actively charged!

Advantage #2 - No Wire!

Let's face it, people have had those white headphone wires hanging from their ears since the early iPod days. They were frequently highlighted in the early, cool Apple commercials.

But for those of us that have been using wireless Bluetooth headphones, we all know the truth. It is really really nice not to have the wire. Whether walking down the street or through an airport or working out, it is great not to worry about the wire. It is simply a much better experience to use wireless headphones.

Disadvantage #2 - Charging Headphones

Let's say you're listening to your headphones on an airplane, and then your headphone's battery dies. You can't listen to any music at all unless you have a way to recharge your headphones. So you can actually be stuck unable to listen to your music or movie.

Wired headphones never die. When your wireless headphones run out of charge, you are out of luck. That can be a major bummer.

Advantage #3 - The Super Phone

We could argue that the smart phone revolution is over. Maybe Apple knows they need to start making a new generation of super phones. Curved phones, phones with game controllers, indestructible phones, etc.

Removing the jack helps the engineers create better form factors on the outside and give them the versatility to alter the shape of the phone. Future phones could even be flexible!

Of course, removing the jack also make more room inside the phone for the chips and battery improvements needed. And we all know space is a very limited resource in modern iPhone designs.